Minutes 04-13-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Jacobs asked if part of the County could have Level I and part could have Level II because of economic development districts, specifically in Durham. Craig Benedict said that dialogue is continuing with the City of Mebane and the City of Durham with regard to this. Commissioner Gordon suggested going with the staff recommendation. The Board agreed. 4. Amendment to Session Law 1987-460 Concerning Disclosures of Property and Business Interests of County Commissioners John Roberts said that this has been on the books since 1987. At the Orange County Board of Commissioners' request, legislation was introduced in the North Carolina general Assembly requiring Orange County Commissioners to disclose property and business interests that could be related to items that come before the Board of County Commissioners for decisions. The legislation was introduced by Representative Joe Hackney and became law. The intent of the legislation was to prevent impropriety by Commissioners and to encourage openness in Orange County Government. The language is in need of modification; however, none of the recommended modifications will have any negative impact on the original intent or purpose of the Act. John Roberts said that he has made some suggested changes and all of the additions are underlined, with one deletion in section 25. Commissioner Jacobs asked when this had to be done, especially in Section 19. Also, if a piece of property is added and then a County Commissioner subsequently takes office, this is not covered. John Roberts said that the timing is in Section 23 and it has to be done within 30 days of assuming office or within 30 days after the acquisition of a business interest or property interest. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if the Board wanted to repeal this legislation. John Roberts said that repealing is an option and there is nothing wrong with doing that, especially since the Board of County Commissioners is required by law to adopt an ethics code this year, and this will be on the May 20th agenda. He will recommend an adoption of a specific code and give options to add into it. At this time there are harsh punishments and he changed the language so that punishments are only imposed if there are willful violations of this rather than someone not knowing about the old law. He would suggest repealing this because the Board will have an ethics code that will be adopted within the next month. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would be happy to repeal this but she does not know how the delegation would address this in the short session. John Roberts said that the County Commissioners can take no action at this time because he knows about this and he will inform all when they are elected or reelected. Commissioner Yuhasz suggested asking for it to be repealed since it can give cause for a citizen to harass a Commissioner. Since no other county does this, then he sees no reason why Orange County should have this. John Roberts said that the County Commissioners should ask that it be repealed because the punishments under the bill would apply to anyone who forgets to do this and anyone who does not do it because they do not know about it; and this could lead to undue harassment. Commissioner Jacobs suggested repealing this after the Board adopts an ethics code and asking the Clerk to research the minutes from 1987. He has no problem with being held to a higher standard than other counties' Board of Commissioners, but he wants to adopt an ethics code first.